He stopped her just outside of Della’s doorway and put the hat on her head, kissing the tip of her nose with a chuckle. “I learned how to purl stitch for you, you bet I mean business.”
Cat giggled, the empty well of her fear filled up with one Flynn McGrady. “How could I ever consider turning down a man with a purl stitch as fine as yours?”
“Just you wait until I show you the afghan I started. You’ll be crazy about me in no time.”
She pulled Flynn to her, cupping his jaw, running her thumb over his lips, smiling up at him. “I think the crazy-about-you part is taken care of, McGrady.”
Yeah, the crazy-about-him part was good.
So good.
Chapter Fifteen
One year later...
“What are you doing here, Kit-Cat? It’s five in the morning.”
“I know... I know where you’re going, Landon,” she whispered, a rasp of hushed words in the purple glow of early morning.
She’d awakened beside Flynn, warm, happy—feeling the incredible joy she felt since they’d moved in together a couple of months ago. The completeness that burrowed deep in her heart when she realized she was in his bed, wrapped in his arms. Then a strange sense of urgency had driven her from the safe confines of the blankets, and she knew she had to go upstairs to the penthouse.
To see Landon. One last time.
Flynn had thrown the covers off and rushed to make her a cup of coffee while she dressed, sending her off with a kiss and the words, “I’ll be right here when you get back.”
She and Flynn had spent a great deal of time with Landon over the last months, and he’d become as good a friend to Flynn as he was to her. They were always talking business strategies and football, making bets on the game, and sharing the occasional scotch on the terrace.
She loved the way Flynn laughed with Landon and the girls at the office. It was easy, rich and full. She loved the way the tips of Flynn’s ears turned red when he heard LaDawn or Marybell talk dirty.
She loved all the good things that had happened since Flynn, Call Girls and Landon had become a part of her life. So many good things. So many things she was trying so hard to be grateful for instead of crying over the sting of inevitable loss.
Just like Landon.
He’d surprised them all by rallying for quite a while, far longer since he’d initially told her the cancer had come back, and much longer than the time frame the doctors had given him. But when his decline came, it was rapid.
Sometimes, when she cried, Flynn would hold her, rocking her quietly as she prepared for the inevitable—privately. So Landon wouldn’t see.
Seeing him now at early dawn, she saw the toll this horrible disease was taking, and she knew she had to let go.
Cat kept her voice low so as not to wake the girls, but she understood why he was leaving this way, and she was trying like hell to respect his choice. Landon could make a fuss over you, but you couldn’t ever return the favor.
He wanted to go quietly. He didn’t want to see their tears. He wanted to savor the good like he savored the steam rising from his coffee each morning. With a smile and a sigh of appreciation.
Yet, tears rushed to her eyes, falling hot and heavy down her cheeks. “I...I had to.” Cat fought a wail, a primal scream at the injustice, by biting the inside of her cheek.
“Don’t cry, pretty Kit-Cat. Please don’t. When I get on this elevator, I wanna see you smilin’ at me. Just like you used to when you brought me coffee every morning at Oakdale. That’s what I want my last memory of you to be.”
“How?” Cat fought a ragged sob. “How do I let you go?” How do I say goodbye forever?
That’s what this was. A forever goodbye.
Landon’s eyes were warm, so warm you could wrap yourself up in them. “You just do. You do it because I need that right now. I’ve had everything I’ve ever wanted in this lifetime. Plenty o’ money to do almost anything, see all corners of the world. But in the end, right now, I just want this one thing. I want to see your smile.”
“Then I want just this one last thing.” She didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, Cat lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tight. “Thank you, Landon. Thank you for giving me this—all of this. For showing me how to stick around just to see what I could see. Thank you.”
Landon squeezed her shoulders with his fingers, his shortness of breath falling upon the ear she pressed to his chest. “You’ve proven to me month after month that finding you was like finding an angel. You’re so dang good at this job. You inspire the girls to take business classes, to learn, to grow in case they don’t always want to work for Call Girls. You nurture them. You encourage them. I believe you’ve even come to love them. So you go see what you can see, Kit-Cat. And remember, you’re the best GM I’ve ever had. Remember, you make my heart glad. So damn glad.”
He pulled away then, stepping into the elevator and lifting a finger to his lips to remind her of his last wish.
And Cat smiled even with the warmth of his arms gone. She smiled. Bright, wide, full of every moment of laughter they’d shared, for every second of their friendship, for every kind word, for helping her to finally find her way.
The elevator doors slid closed with a hush, and then Landon was gone.
It was forever goodbye.
She slipped to the cushioned chair by the elevator doors, pulled her knees up to her chin and wept. Not in anger that they wouldn’t be able to be together, but in gratitude for a friendship that had touched her very soul.
She let the tears come, didn’t bother to hold them back. She wanted to get it all out so she’d be strong when the rest of the girls woke up—because Landon was counting on her to keep everything together.
Now it was time for Cat to do what she’d promised—keep team Call Girls strong.
* * *
Cat stood on tiptoe, planting a kiss on Flynn’s lips, sighing with happiness. Each night when she came through the door was like a homecoming for her. Each day since she’d taken Landon’s advice and decided to see what she could see, better than the last.
No one but Sanjeev knew where Landon had gone to spend his final days. He would only tell them Landon was safe and loved, sat where he could see the sky every night and sip sweet tea by the light of a buttery moon. Emmaline Amos, Flynn’s cousin, was with him in his last month, handling legalities he needed taken care of, tending to his every need. And one of his old friends from Plum Orchard managed to come and say goodbye, too.
As much as she and Flynn and the girls had all wanted to be with him, hold him, maybe even pray, instead they did their best to keep Team Call Girls upwardly mobile while sometimes as a group, and sometimes separately, they tried to work through their grief.
The word had come just yesterday he was gone—really gone, and she and the girls had a small party to celebrate his life. They’d made all his favorite foods, put pictures of him smiling all around, laughed and told funny stories about him.
And they’d planned for this thing Landon wanted Cat and the girls to do. They’d all put their hands in one big circle and vowed to make right their promise to him—as a team.
And it had been full of the love Landon wanted left in his wake.
Cat took a deep, shaky breath, and snuggled against Flynn. “So did you get that couch delivery all squared away for your mama?” Della now resided right next door to her own mother at Sunshine Falls Senior Living.
Thanks to Landon’s generosity and influence, Della and Tessa hadn’t been put on the long waiting list for entry. Della had taken recuperation to a whole new level and though she still occasionally struggled with her speech, she was taking on the world with a renewed sense of joy. Making matters even better, Tessa would never have to worry about her healthcare again, and neither would Cat.
> When she’d told Emmet Kingsley where her mother was, he’d gotten his real estate agent on the phone and sent him off to find an apartment for him, too.
Flynn rubbed circles against her back with the flat of his palm, pulling her close. “I did, and have I mentioned she’s been turning some heads? Not sure how I feel about that, but it’s time she let go of my Dad and move on.”
“See?” Cat teased, pulling him with her to the couch. “It’s all those romance novels. They taught her all those smooth moves.”
Flynn pulled her into his lap and peered at her, his gaze full of concern. “So, how are you? Are you okay?”
He was referring to the DVD Sanjeev delivered earlier. The one Landon had left for her to watch only upon his passing.
He’d left Call Girls three months ago, but in Cat’s heart, he left the day the elevator doors closed on his beautiful face, and since then, she’d spent all her time organizing his last wish. “I haven’t watched it yet. I wanted you to be here with me.”
“I’ll always be here with you, Cat. But if you’re not ready...”
Cat shook her head, her heart aching. “It’s time-sensitive. According to Sanjeev, Landon asked that I watch it as soon as...as soon as we had word he was gone. The minute I agreed to organize the move to Plum Orchard just after he told me his prognosis, he also told me he had a specific reason he wanted Call Girls back in his hometown. I need to know what that is so I can do it exactly as he wanted.”
Flynn pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his strong arms around her. “Then let’s do this for Landon,” he said, taking the remote and pressing Play.
Landon flashed onto the screen, propped up by pillows on a bed and surrounded by the flowers he loved. He looked fragile, but his smile, the purest part of him, still managed to find its way across his lips.
“Lovely, Catherine. Did I tell you how much I’m gonna miss your fire? That feisty way you have of takin’ up for the underdog, lookin’ out for those who can’t look out for themselves?”
Cat fought to catch her breath. Everything about him outwardly had changed. He’d lost even more weight than the last day she’d seen him before he left. His eyes were glassy and sunken, and his skin gray and waxy.
“I sure will. Remember I told you how good you were at makin’ people so happy? I need you to help me make two people very happy. I have another special girl who needs me now more than ever. I’m hopin’ she’s not too blind to see she needs lookin’ out for, and I’m hopin’ what I’m going to ask you to do for me isn’t askin’ for too much.”
Cat paused the DVD, her chest so tight, it almost choked her. Flynn tightened his hold around her when she buried her face in the warmth of his chest. “I can’t... I can’t. That’s not my Landon.”
Flynn kissed the top of her head. “And that’s why he chose to leave, honey. He didn’t want anyone crying about the end of his life. He wanted you all to celebrate the insane amount of life he managed to pack in while he was here—celebrate living. Right now. Right this minute. You know what he said to me that day when he told me about your job at Call Girls? He said, ‘Flynn, if you really love Cat, you’ll tell her right now. Right this second. Doesn’t matter that y’all are as different as night and day. Just matters that you love her. Go love her and figure the rest out later. But right this second, love her, and then love her some more ’til you both figure it out. Don’t miss forever.’ And he was right. That’s how Landon lived. Every second of every day was always about living. And that’s how I intend to follow in his footsteps.”
Love swelled in her chest. So much love in the midst of so much sadness. More tears fell from her eyes, but she forced herself to press Play again. Whatever Landon wanted, whatever it was, she’d do it. She started the DVD again.
“So here’s where you come in, and I know it’s puttin’ a lot on you. If you decide to stay with Call Girls in Plum Orchard, where you and the girls will always have the best life has to offer as long as you work for me, swear, you’re gonna learn to love livin’ there. It’s a bit of a ways from your mama and Miss Della, so if you don’t want to plant your feet there for good, I’d understand. I just need you to get everybody there safe and sound and set up shop. I’ve taken care of the legalities and Sanjeev has the rest, he’ll explain it all if you decide to do this for me. All you have to do is keep right on doin’ what you’ve been doin’. Carin’ about the people I care about.
“Now, about Plum Orchard. It’s a small town, Cat. Minds there are probably even smaller, but if we don’t do this, two of the people I love most in the world are gonna ruin their lives for good. Seein’ as I can’t be there to help ’em fix it, I gotta count on you and all my crazy afterlife machinations to do it for me. And Kit-Cat? Never you worry about the buncha old biddies you’re gonna encounter. They’re crawlin’ out from the woodwork, but you can bet, my Dixie’ll have your back.”
Dixie. That was Landon’s best friend. Dixie and Caine were his two childhood friends. He talked about the two of them all the time.
“And that’s what this favor comes down to. Dixie and Caine. What I’m gonna ask you to do with those two nitwits is probably gonna shock you, even coming from me, but someone’s gotta get their heads screwed on straight. Now, mind you, you’re gonna run into some steep hills you’ll have to climb. But I promise you, when you crest the top o’ that hill, you’ll see forever.
“I grew to love you in our short time together, Kit-Cat. I hope you’ll always remember that. I hope you know how much you bein’ my friend meant to me. You be good to yourself. No more runnin’ away from what’s right there in front of you, now. You really can have a happily ever after. Swear it’s true. And, Flynn? You take care o’ my girl, you hear? And hold on tight. You’re in for a wild ride.” Landon smiled again, his eyes so warm, it filled Cat back up. “Love to you both—always love.”
The DVD shut off with a snap, leaving them in silence. Tears fell from Cat’s eyes. There’d been so many tears lately between her and the girls, they could fill an ocean.
She didn’t want to cry anymore. She wanted to do what Landon said. She wanted to live—every single second.
Flynn cupped her chin, kissing the tip of her nose. “You okay?”
“Did you know?”
“About?”
“What Landon wanted—about Plum Orchard?”
“I didn’t know what it meant ’til now, but when he told me not to give up on you, he asked me if I’d ever been to Plum Orchard.”
“Have you?”
Flynn’s smile was fond. “Only a couple of times when my father visited Em’s mother, his sister, my Aunt Clora. What I remember most about it was the ladies there—always dressed up with those big hats and fanning themselves. It was a nice place.”
“So how do you feel about going there—relocating? About doing this with me, for Landon?”
Flynn pressed his lips to hers. “The same way I felt about it when he asked me if I’d consider it.”
“He asked you if you’d move to Plum Orchard?” She should have known Landon had figured this all out long before he left this earth.
“He did.”
“And what did you say?”
Flynn pressed his nose against hers. “I said I’d follow you anywhere you wanted to go because I was madly in love with you. You know, after only knowing you for a few weeks and in the interest of throwing all that caution you talked about to the wind.”
Cat smiled through her tears, letting Flynn wipe them from her cheeks—mad about this man who’d shown her not everyone left. She didn’t have to cut and run the second her fears began to eat her up.
This time, she was going to ride them out. This time, she was staying until the end.
“I love you, too, Flynn McGrady. So let’s go to Plum Orchard, and see what we can see,” she whispered against his lips.
&
nbsp; With Flynn by her side, she always wanted to see what she could see.
* * * * *
About the Author
Dakota Cassidy is the national bestselling author of more than a dozen books of contemporary and paranormal romance. She lives for a good laugh in both her life and her writing.
Her goals are simple: banish the color yellow forever, create world peace via hot rollers and Aqua Net, and nab every tiara in the land by competing in the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. And of course, write really funny, sexy, romantic books!
Dakota lives in Oregon with her dogs and her husband, who puts the heroes in her books to shame. She loves to connect with readers, so visit her online at www.DakotaCassidy.com, stop by Facebook, www.Facebook.com/DakotaCassidyFanPage, or follow her on Twitter, @DakotaCassidy.
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ISBN-13: 9781459256064
TALK THIS WAY
Copyright © 2014 by Dakota Cassidy
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
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